Turkey Trot 10k

My girlfriend and I ran the 35th Annual Turkey Trot in Virginia Beach last week.  It's hosted by our local running club the  Tidewater Striders and they had a record number of participants this year.  Getting in a run with my girlfriend before stuffing my face with all the Thanksgiving food was a great way to start the holiday! 

Here are some pics from the event:



Kerry kicking my butt coming down the finishing area!

Setting goals

It's that time again...to begin laying the groundwork for next season by setting your goals.   

To get you started I have stolen borrowed some talking points from a past Joe Friel blog post.  He suggest answering the following questions:

Did I meet my 2012 goals?

Did I follow my training plan (you had one, didn’t you)?

Did I address my limiters?

Was I able to stick to my training schedule?

Was I satisfied with my race results?

Be open and honest in your self-evaluation so that you can begin formulating a foundation for improvement. 

While you may know right offhand which areas your want to work on, there are some other ways to pinpoint them.  Often your race results will give you lots of insight into your limiters and areas that need special focus.  If you track your splits in a race, they can show you whether you went out too fast and faded and how close you were to that coveted negative split.   

In triathlon you can even compare your times across each discipline to age group, gender and overall results.  Seeing how you stack up against the field can go a long way in showing you the areas that need improvement.  Personally, I know from reviewing my results that my run has been a definite limiter and is something I plan to spend a lot of time improving this upcoming year. 

Once you get an idea of what you need to work on start developing a plan of action and be as specific as possible in how you can achieve that goal.  Using my weakness (the run) as an example - I'm not merely planning to run more to get better results.  I've started working on a plan that includes SPECIFIC markers.  In a future post I will discuss some of the specific areas that I plan to focus on for next year....stayed tuned.   

As we approach the new year, I'd love to hear your feedback on this process.

Top 3 High Performance Lessons I Learned in 2012

Here is a link to a good article written by top age-group triathlete Ben Greenfield on the Training Peaks Blog:

http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/posts/2012/11/19/top-3-high-performance-lessons-i-learned-in-2012.html

#1 - Workout of the Week

As promised here is the first installment of my Workout of the Week.

It's a workout that I found on the Runner's World website.  Here you go:

The Even Steven Workout

Start with your usual pre-workout warm-up. Then run the following in order:

• Run 10 minutes at marathon effort
• Jog 2 minutes at your easy-run effort
• Run 8 minutes at half marathon effort
• Jog 4 minutes
• Run 6 minutes at 10K effort
• Jog 6 minutes
• Run 4 minutes at 5K effort
• Jog 8 minutes
• Run 2 minutes at slightly faster than 5K effort
• Jog 10 minutes as your cool-down

The Short Steven Workout

This is a shorter version of the above, great for when you are time crunched or are focusing on shorter runs.

• Run 5 minutes at marathon effort
• Jog 2 minutes at your easy-run effort
• Run 4 minutes at half marathon effort
• Jog 3 minutes
• Run 3 minutes at 10K effort
• Jog 4 minutes
• Run 2 minutes at 5K effort
• Jog 5 minutes
• Run 1 minute at slightly faster than 5K effort
• Jog 10 minutes as your cool-down

I would love to hear feedback from those of you that try it out. 

Happy training!

Workout of the Week...to come

Avoid turning into this...

With this in mind, I've decided to start a "Workout of the Week" post for this blog.  Each week (I'm thinking Sundays) I plan to post a swim/bike/run/strength&core workout that you can incorporate into your weekly training.     

Hopefully, they can add a change of pace to your normal training schedule and help improve your overall fitness.  If anyone has suggestions for these workouts, please send them to me and I'll make sure to post them for others. 

I plan to post the first workout this coming Sunday so stayed tuned.

Happy training!!

Tis' the Season....the "Off-Season"

With the Richmond Marathon in my rearview mirror, I have pretty much wrapped up my racing for the year.  I may do a few smaller local running races (e.g. Turkey Trot, Surfin' Santa) over the next few weeks, but I'm not specifically training for anything. 

I've done a good amount of racing this year and my training load increased significantly from years past.  Needless to say I'm looking forward to a little unstructured down time.

So...in place of all my time spent training, I plan to spend some time...



eating one of these...

some of these...

a slice (or three) of this...

and this! 

Please leave a comment below with your favorite "cheat meals" so I can make sure to get them a try.  Now its time for me to get to work...

dedicated triathlete...

It's all about going the extra mile...

Early Adopter...On the Cutting Edge of Social Media

For those of you that don't know me very well I'm a bit of an "Early Adopter." A Will Dunpfy of Modern Family if you will. [side note: you must check this show out]

I've written this post to drop a bomb on the internet community. And remember, you heard it here first:

There is this *NEW* website that will change the internet and social media as you know it...[wait for it]

...it's called "Facebook."

It took me awhile to get past the name, but once I did I started to see all the wonderful possibilities. For starters, with Facebook I can:

• tell everyone exactly where I am at all times
• post pictures of what I'm eating
• make people jealous of all the fabulous places I'm visiting
• document crazy shenanigans on my "timeline" [get this - it starts with my birth and is updated on a regular basis by friends and family - how genius!]

I know what you are thinking...this sounds too good to be true. Well its not!

Don't be left out...sign up now for your very own Facebook account so that you too can have more friends than you ever dreamed possible.


PS: If by chance this Facebook thing doesn't catch on there's always MySpace.

Pictures from Richmond Marathon...

Here are some pics from my Richmond Marathon (read my race report here).  Enjoy!


around the halfway point...

 

focused and cruising...(little did I know)

still pretty comfortable

wait for it...

BAM!!...thought if I closed my eyes people might not be able to see me cry...

me and the guy I "out-sprinted" to the finish...booyaahh!!

Kerry keeping me upright...

Post-race beer and food!

Stunt rider Martyn Ashton...on a road bike?!?

Found this sweet video of Martyn Ashton stunt riding on a £10,000 Pinarello Dogma 2, as used by the cycling's Team Sky.  He is unbelievable!!

 

The thing that always gets me about these type of guys [girls are generally too smart to try this stuff]is how many times they must crash and burn before they are able to pull off all those crazy tricks....talk about a steep learning curve! 

It's amazing. 

Where to park your bike...

Love this pic!! 

 

Open Letter from Greg Lemond

Three time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond posted this open letter on his Facebook page.

Can anyone help me out? I know this sounds kind of lame but I am not well versed in social marketing. I would like to send a message to everyone that really loves cycling. I do not use Twitter and do not have an organized way of getting some of my own “rage” out. I want to tell the world of cycling to please join me in telling Pat McQuaid to f##k off and resign. I have never seen such an abuse of power in cycling’s history- resign Pat if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport.

Pat McQuaid, you know damn well what has been going on in cycling, and if you want to deny it, then even more reasons why those who love cycling need to demand that you resign.

I have a file with what I believe is well-documented proof that will exonerate Paul.

Pat in my opinion you and Hein are the corrupt part of the sport. I do not want to include everyone at the UCI because I believe that there are many, maybe most that work at the UCI that are dedicated to cycling, they do it out of the love of the sport, but you and your buddy Hein have destroyed the sport.

Pat, I thought you loved cycling? At one time you did and if you did love cycling please dig deep inside and remember that part of your life – allow cycling to grow and flourish – please! It is time to walk away. Walk away if you love cycling.

As a reminder I just want to point out that recently you accused me of being the cause of USADA’s investigation against Lance Armstrong. Why would you be inclined to go straight to me as the “cause”? Why shoot the messenger every time?

Every time you do this I get more and more entrenched. I was in your country over the last two weeks and I asked someone that knows you if you were someone that could be rehabilitated. His answer was very quick and it was not good for you. No was the answer, no, no , no!

The problem for sport is not drugs but corruption. You are the epitome of the word corruption.

You can read all about Webster’s definition of corruption. If you want I can re-post my attorney’s response to your letter where you threaten to sue me for calling the UCI corrupt. FYI I want to officially reiterate to you and Hein that in my opinion the two of your represent the essence of corruption.

I would encourage anyone that loves cycling to donate and support Paul in his fight against the Pat and Hein and the UCI. Skip lunch and donate the amount that you would have spent towards that Sunday buffet towards changing the sport of cycling.

I donated money for Paul’s defense, and I am willing to donate a lot more, but I would like to use it to lobby for dramatic change in cycling. The sport does not need Pat McQuaid or Hein Verbruggen – if this sport is going to change it is now. Not next year, not down the road, now! Now or never!

People that really care about cycling have the power to change cycling – change it now by voicing your thought and donating money towards Paul Kimmage’s defense, (Paul, I want to encourage you to not spend the money that has been donated to your defense fund on defending yourself in Switzerland. In my case, a USA citizen, I could care less if I lost the UCI’s bogus lawsuit. Use the money to lobby for real change).

If people really want to clean the sport of cycling up all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is.

Don’t buy a USA Cycling license. Give up racing for a year, just long enough to put the UCI and USA cycling out of business. We can then start from scratch and let the real lovers in cycling direct where and how the sport of cycling will go.

Please make a difference.
Greg

Richmond Marathon Race Report

Richmond Marathon (Richmond, Virginia)

Some context:

November 10, 2012 8:00am
Weather: ~43deg at start, warming to ~60 by my finish
Race Kit: red shorts, knee high white compression socks, shoes-orange Kinvara 2s, Final Kick navy blue race singlet (on back "Stay Calm & Rock On"), white headband, bib #281 [slightly off center to my right...noticed this about 3miles into the race...how annoying]
Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins/cinnamon/honey, sweet potato with honey, sipped on Nuun, half of a Biestmilch tablet 30-minutes before the start
Bathroom visits: [too much?!...ok, ok]

...let that awesome image soak in....got it?! Okay...now the details of my very first marathon...

Minutes before race start 

Dropped my bag off and realized I had to pee again (2nd time in about 20minutes).  DJ played some inspirational music as a bunch of runners [me included] hopped over the metal barriers to get up to the front of the corral ignoring desperate pleas of the race director.  Few dynamic stretches while secretly wishing DJ would play "Call Me Maybe"...no such luck.  Gun shot...dropped to the ground [we were in Richmond - can you blame me]

Miles 1-6

Felt like this...

I'm to the left of the screen, just out of view...
[I spoke with the camera man after the race,
he assured me it wouldn't happen again...time will tell]

I was happy to get through this section of the race feeling strong because only 4 days before the race I had done a short 6-mile run that included only 3 miles at marathon pace and I couldn't wrap my head around how the hell I was going to run that pace for 24 more miles...10k split was 43:57

Miles 7-13

There were some rolling hills along this section, nothing too bad though.  This section includes a very pretty stretch along the James River that helped me stay in my happy place.  I just tried to focus on staying in control, being conservative and hitting my splits.  Legs were still feeling good, a few little aches started to crop up, but nothing that affected my pace. 

This was my head space...

This kept interrupting that head space...

Kept thinking I had to go [again] but just kept pushing on, feeling eventually went away.

13.1 mile split – 1:32:38

Miles 14-21

This was a nice stretch for me.  It included the most significant downhill and uphill section of the race and I felt strong going into the final 5-miles of the race.  There were some good areas with bigger crowds and DJs playing good music that kept me rolling. 

I kept looking down at my shirt expecting to see this...

Little did I know that I was about to enter an invisible kryptonite cloud...

20 mile split – 2:20:53

Miles 22-25.6

At this point I was about 30 seconds up my 3:05 goal finishing time and everything was going great.  I was writing my Boston Marathon qualifying speech (I could be wrong, but I dont think they have such a thing).  I knew I had a little ways to go, but my body felt strong and I felt like...BAM...I literally turned a corner [metophorically it was more like a dark alley]...but seriously...I turn onto a new street and almost instantaneously my body starts whispering..."slow down, I'm tired."  I'm like..."shut up legs" & "be water: flow" & "embrace the suck"...desparately trying any mantra I can think of.  I kept things together through the end of mile 22, pushing hard to maintain my pace.  And that's when...

...the wheels rolled off...

[In case you were wondering, I'm in car and the the wheel is the "Boston-qualifying me"]

Those last 4 miles were pretty tough.  I kept looking at my Garmin and watching my pace fall further and further behind.  I buckled down and regrouped and kept putting one foot in front of the other (albeit slowly). 

This is what my legs felt like...


Miles 25.7-26.2

The last 1/2 mile was downhill and you can really let it rip.  My quads were screaming, but I pushed hard and finished strong.  I was even able to high-five Kerry right before the finish!

Finishing time - 3:08:24 (3:24 off Boston qualifying time)

Overall, I was very happy with my race performance.  Most importantly, I finished the race and did so with a smile on my face.  I executed my race plan perfectly and everything went very well...that is until mile 22.  I'm obviously a little disappointed that I did not meet my goal time, but considering it was my first attempt and that I had an abbreviated build-up period I can't complain to much.    

It was a great experience and definitely makes me even hungrier to qualify in the future! 

It's definitely on the schedule:  me vs. marathon, round 2, date and time TBD

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR SUPPORTING ME ALONG THE WAY!!

Now its time for some of these...

Cheers!

Note to self...

DISCLAIMER:  For those of you at work the picture below may be tough to explain to the boss...

If I am ever fortunate enough to have the money to own a cycling team and get to design the team kit, I vow to use black shorts...

This is it....

It's the eve of the marathon and I am definitely ready to race.  Maybe not ready in the sense that I've done enough training, long runs, etc., etc., but ready in sense that I want to finally get out there and see how far I can push my body. 

As I mentioned before, this will be my first marathon.  So naturally I've been thinking A LOT about my goals going into the race and whether I've set the bar too low/high.  There is a bit of the unknown and that's what scares me.  At the same time, the unknown excites me.  It's those new things you do in life that challenge you and make you a better version of yourself. 

One thing is for certain, I am going to wake up tomorrow and bust my ass trying to get that 3:05 Boston qualfying time.

Get Pumped Up!!

    

The "List"

So THE RACE is almost here.  I've been getting some last minute supplies together for race day and have started checking items off my "list". 

Races are stresssful enough.  So do the easy things like thinking of everything you might need a few weeks out from the race.  I recommend even creating a list that you can add things to as you think of them.  Go through every aspect of the race in your mind starting from the night before and think of anything you might need.  Save this list on your computer and refine it as you go along.  Soon you will have a great tool that will make preparing for races very easy. 

I have a list for triathlon that I've added to over the years and use all the time.  It contains everything I think I might need at a race.  To be honest, most times I don't even bring half the stuff on the list, but its always good to think about.    

At the end of the day it's one less thing I have on my plate as I start to mentally prepare for the race.

Bicycle!

Found this picture while cruising [pun intended] the internet...

I'm not an environmental geek by any means, but I try and do my part.  Next time you go to the grocery store or run some errands try and do them on your bike.  I think you might be surprised how much fun you'll have!

Book Reviews

I've been reading some pretty good sport related books recently and wanted to give a short review of a few of them.  Below is a preview of what's to come:

 

Avoiding Taper Tantrums

[cue my taper intro..."the time has come..."]

you know you love it!

So...the time has come (a fact's a fact) for me to begin my taper.  This unfortunate time is when I start to scale back the training volume and let you body freshen up for the race. 

People respond to the taper differently....

Some get the dreaded "taper tantrums"...

Some get depressed....


Some people lose trust in their training...

For me, the taper has always been a bit of a "catch 22."   On the one hand, I know [hope] I've done a solid block of training and should be ready. On the other hand, their is this temptation to use those last couple of weeks to cram in some last minute training in the hopes that you will be better prepared for race day.    

No need to worry about me though, in between workouts I've been spending a lot of time with my feet up on the coffee table watching Dawson's Creek reruns (in case you're interested-Joey and Pacey just expressed their feelings for each other and struggled to tell Dawson, later Dawson finds out and flips out, I personally think he overreacted)...yea...I'm a sucker for high school tv dramas!

One week until the race!!!